Dye Job
by SocialDegenerate
Summary: "He hadn't even considered it when he decided to leave Japan, but without access to his usual hairdresser, he'd found it to be too time-consuming and expensive to maintain the bleaching, colouring, highlighting and maintenance that his stylist had been so used to regularly doing for him."


Staring out the window of the plane as the captain announced that they would be beginning their descent into Narita Airport, Makishima Yuusuke felt his heart begin to beat a little faster.

After leaving Japan for England more than three years earlier, he hadn't managed to find time to return for even a short visit. Between university, working with his brother at the design studio and his British road racing team, holidays of any kind were few and far between, and the last thing he wanted to do during them was squash himself onto a flight for twelve or more hours.

But now that he'd finished university, he'd suddenly found himself with a lot more free time, especially as his post-graduation job searching wasn't exactly going _well_. So, after the combined efforts of his brother trying to get rid of him for a while and his mother practically begging for him to visit, Makishima found himself twenty minutes away from landing on the soil of his home country.

Really, he shouldn't have been anxious; he knew his parents would be nothing but welcoming, and it would certainly be nice to be able to rely on his native language, instead of worrying that he was making a fool of himself with his imperfect English. However, he knew that it wasn't his parents who would be waiting for him once he managed to navigate airport customs, and that was why he felt the tell-tale pangs of anxiety gnawing at his gut.

Although he hadn't kept up communication with many of his high school friends, he should have guessed that the one person he'd never manage to get rid of would be Toudou Jinpachi. No matter how long it took for Makishima to respond to Toudou's emails, if he ever did at all, the other man didn't ever seem to get discouraged, sending Makishima constant updates on everything from his parents' inn to the lives of people they used to ride with.

Accordingly, Makishima should have known that it would be a bad idea to let Toudou know that he was returning to Japan, because the black-haired man had immediately designated himself as Makishima's welcoming party, blocking any and all attempts on Makishima's part to convince Toudou that he didn't need a chaperone just to travel around Chiba.

It was completely predictable behaviour from Toudou, and Makishima didn't know how he'd be able to handle that. Their rushed parting years ago had left too many questions dangling around the both of them; Makishima was mature enough now to recognise that their relationship hadn't exactly been conventional, and he was certain that _something_ would have developed between them had he stayed around.

What that _something_ would have been was a question he knew could never be answered now, but just the knowledge that Toudou was still the same guy at his core was enough to make Makishima wonder what seeing him again would be like.

Indeed, Toudou's emails were often accompanied by pictures, some amateur shots taken while out with friends, some professional shots from various cycling events, and others just selfies that Toudou felt the need to share. As much as his personality was still the same, Makishima had to admit that Toudou had changed physically, his features becoming more striking as he matured and his body finishing growing into the lean, toned young man he'd always been destined to become.

Basically, Toudou was hot.

Makishima wasn't exactly sure how he felt about that.

In comparison, Makishima knew that he was still awkward and weird-looking. Despite keeping up with his cycling, the busy days and long nights of student and fashion life hadn't exactly treated him well, and he hadn't managed to build up enough muscle weight to make his limbs look anything other than spindly and overgrown.

Even his hair was no longer the soft, gleaming green mop it had been in high school. He hadn't even considered it when he decided to leave Japan, but without access to his usual hairdresser, he'd found it to be too time-consuming and expensive to maintain the bleaching, colouring, highlighting and maintenance that his stylist had been so used to regularly doing for him. After only a few months in England, he'd gotten a hairdresser to dye over the faded green with the dull brown of his exposed roots, finding that to be the easiest choice as he waited for the bleach to slowly grow out.

So, on top of looking like the gaunt, underfed student he'd spent three years being, Makishima found himself back with the boring brown hair he'd always hated, which was then compounded by a lack of access to his usual shampoo and conditioner brands meaning that the bleach had begun to frizzle his long locks.

Toudou Jinpachi, who was probably already waiting for him on the ground, had grown into the gorgeous man everyone had expected him to be. Meanwhile, Makishima still felt like the awkward teenager who accidentally scared people, all topped off by boring, bleach-fried hair.

It wasn't surprising that he'd never sent Toudou any photos in return.

* * *

><p>Toudou Jinpachi was practically vibrating with excitement as he hung around the international arrivals area, scanning the crowd back and forth for a familiar head of green hair. The digital display board to his left announced that the flight from London had landed over thirty minutes earlier, and so he knew that Maki-chan would be appearing at any time.<p>

He'd missed his rival a _lot_ over the past few years, having been unable to make the trip to England to see him and instead having to rely on occasional emails to know that Makishima was even still alive. He'd long since gotten over being left with so little warning, and was nothing but excited to lay eyes on the man he'd liked so much back in high school.

Although maybe _liked_ wasn't the right word; Toudou knew there was nothing past tense about his feelings for the peak spider. He hadn't seen so much as a _picture_ since Makishima had left, and yet he still found himself sending email after email in hopes of getting an all-too-rare reply. Just seeing a new message from his former rival had been enough to put a smile on Toudou's face for entire days, and so he knew that enough was enough.

When he saw Makishima, he wasn't going to bother beating around the bush any more. His uncharacteristic reluctance had cost him back in high school, when the green-haired man had left the country with only the briefest of goodbyes, and Toudou wasn't even sure how long Makishima would be staying this time.

Pouting his lips in frustrated anticipation as he scanned the crowds of people around him, Toudou crossed his arms and impatiently tapped his foot. All around him, people were meeting up with their loved ones, gushing cheerful greetings and hugging tightly, and he was quickly getting annoyed with how long he was being kept waiting.

"Hey." The sound of a male voice next to him briefly caught Toudou's attention, but a quick sideways glance revealed the speaker to be a man who clearly wasn't the green-haired climber that Toudou was looking for, and so Toudou didn't bother taking a closer look or bothering to find out if the man was even speaking to him.

"Uh...hi?" This time, it was obvious that the man was trying to talk to him as he moved into Toudou's field of vision, but as Toudou was preoccupied looking for Makishima, he waved the guy off without sparing a second glance

"Could you stop blocking my view, please? I'm waiting for the love of my life and you are _in the way_."

Toudou heard what sounded like a surprised choking sound and he rolled his eyes, impatience getting the best of him as he made to move somewhere else. The feeling of a hand grabbing his shoulder had him tensing uncomfortably and freezing in place, the idea of a stranger holding onto him making him very wary.

"Toudou, what the hell?"

Whirling around, Toudou stared wide-eyed at the brunet who had tried to talk to him and then grabbed him, his brain screaming the man's name but not entirely being able to connect this guy with how he _should_ have looked.

"M-Maki-chan?"

The answering smile, which anyone but Toudou probably would have considered vaguely terrifying, was more than enough for Toudou to believe that this man really was his high school rival. Although, all things considered, his clashing abomination that could barely be considered an _outfit_ really should have tipped Toudou off earlier. Nobody else would ever be caught dead wearing something like that. But Makishima looked _good_, slim and handsome to the point where Toudou found himself wondering if his friend had ever modelled his own designs.

And...

_Oh_.

_**Fuck**_.

"Maki-chan!" Toudou chattered, his heart feeling like it was going to beat out of his chest. "Sorry about that, I thought you were some creep and said what I thought would make you go away...not that I wanted _you_ to go away, but I wanted you to go away before I knew it was you..."

"Toudou."

Trailing off with what he thought was probably a rather unflattering blush on his cheeks, Toudou found himself unable to meet Makishima's eyes. He'd accidentally confessed and he'd _fucked it up_ and Maki-chan probably actually hated him now and for the first time in his entire life, he wanted to sink into the floor and disappear.

Over three years without seeing the man he was pretty sure he loved, and the first thing he did was rudely blow him off and then casually blurt out the feelings he'd been worrying over for longer than could possibly be healthy.

The long-fingered hand that cupped his chin eventually made him lift his head, catching the familiar blue gaze that was framed by strands of weirdly brown hair. A heartbeat later there were awkward, dry lips on his own, and Toudou was pretty certain that this brunet just happened to greatly resemble Makishima because there was _no way that this was actually happening_.

One hand clenching in the front of Maki-chan's god awful shirt, Toudou lifted the other to run his fingers through long hair as Makishima pulled him closer, only to abruptly pull away and let out an inhuman shriek.

"_What on earth have you **done**?_"

Pulling his hand away from the dry mess that Makishima had made of his previously lovely hair, Toudou took another step back and pointed his finger at his..._Maki-chan_.

"You're not going home like this. You're coming to my family's inn, and I'm going to start fixing whatever you think _this_ is," Toudou announced, gesturing towards the brown mop of hair. "The colour is fine, but it's so _frizzled!_"

Makishima stared blankly at him for several seconds, but his expression melted into something softer, even if he did look somewhat self-conscious.

"You're lucky that I...I like you a lot," Makishima muttered, barely loud enough for Toudou to hear over the sounds of the airport around them, but it still made Toudou beam back at him.

"Awww, and I love you too, Maki-chan!" Grabbing the long-haired man by the hand, Toudou barely waited for him to grab his suitcase before beginning to pull him to the exit. "Now let's hurry up so that I can fix that gorgeous hair of yours."


End file.
